CALL FOR BOOK REVIEWS

August 22, 2016

Dear Nonlinear Colleagues, Are you falling behind on your reading? If you’re like me, my pile of stuff-to-read has avalanched into a 1/f distribution of piles of various sizes. We can help each other by reading something and publishing book reviews. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences has always supported reviews of books on nonlinear and closely related topics. NDPLS is now making a specific call for book reviews. The next pages of this call contain more than 70 book synopses that have appeared in the Nonlinear Dynamical Bookshelf column of the SCTPLS Newsletter over the last two years. (Please pardon the homespun reformatting; it was the fastest way to produce this document.) The publication dates on the books stretch back a bit further in time; sometimes news travels faster than it does at other times. All books you see listed are potential targets for a review in NDPLS. The descriptions from publishers’ state-ments and may have been written by the authors. There may be some books that we

missed, or were already reviewed in NDPLS, but this is a good place to start browsing. Format Book reviews are brief, usually running between 1000-1500 words. The review should start with the bibliographic information, formatted as follows: Nonlinear Analysis for Human Movement Variability, edited by Nikolas Stergiou. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2016. 408 pages. ISBN: 1498703321. The text should start by describing what the book’s content, who would be the likely readers, and what they might expect. The remainder of the review should provide evaluative informa-tion about questions such as, "Does the book deliver what it promises?" "How well does it accomplish its objective?"

It is not necessary to describe the book chapter by chapter if it is written by a single author or author team. It is helpful to focus attention of particular chapters, however, if there is something striking about them. Edited collec-tions tend to be more disconnected between chapters, so reviews of edited collections tend to call out specific chapters more often. Sometimes reviews contain references to other sources that are closely related to the target book. References should be formatted in the APA/NDPLS style. If you are not familiar with this reference format, please see the Instructions for Authors on the NDPLS web site (www.societyforchaostheory.org/ndpls). Obtaining Books Publishers are much less likely to send complimentary copies of books to journals hoping for some reviews as in (many) years past. Even if they did, the cost of re-mailing books around the world to potential reviewers would be prohibitive for NDPLS. Publishers might still be willing to supply a book for review if you contact them with your request. It would be fair to tell them that you were planning to review for NDPLS. Please understand that such a request implies a commitment to actually complete the review in a reasonable amount of time.

If you are a university faculty member, you can ask your librarian to acquire books that you recommend. This is a standard procedure at most universities, and a good way to build a collection that will be available for your use and your students’ use. The third option should be fairly obvious – buy a book. Pick something that looks relevant to your interests. Hopefully the enclosed list will instigate some new directions for you. Submitting Your Review The procedure is the same as with regular articles for NDPLS. Send your review to Stephen.guastello@marquette.edu the Editor in Chief by e-mail. It usually only requires a few days to reach a decision or recommendations for revision. We look forward to a coordinated effort to cut through the collective reading list. The more we share, the more we learn, and the faster we can each move forward with our work plans. Best regards, Stephen J. Guastello, Ph.D. Editor in Chief, NDPLS

working from a dynamic systems perspective the book

offers a new and exciting approach to human identity and its development across the lifespan. The

contributors to the book are specialists in this new approach, and offer new and challenging ideas on the

development of identity as a self-organizing process.

The book offers a wealth of new ideas and insights, but also concentrates on the ways these insights can be

translated into research.

Byrne, D., & Callaghan, G. (2014). Complexity theory and the social sciences: The state of the art. Routledge/Taylor and Francis. For the past two decades, “complexity” has informed a range of work

across the social sciences. There are diverse schools of

complexity thinking, and authors have used these ideas in a multiplicity of ways, from health inequalities to the

organization of large-scale firms. Some understand complexity as emergence from the rule-based

interactions of simple agents and explore it through agent-based modeling. Others argue against such

“restricted complexity” and for the development of case-

based narratives deploying a much wider set of approaches and techniques. Major social theorists have

been reinterpreted through a complexity lens and the whole methodological programme of the social sciences

has been recast in complexity terms. –Back cover.

Farmer, M. F. (2014). Application of chaos and fractals to computer vision. Sharjah, UAE:

Bentham Books. ISBN: 978-1-60805-901-0. This

book provides a thorough investigation of the application of chaos theory and fractal analysis to computer vision.

The field of chaos theory has been studied in dynamical physical systems, and has been very successful in

providing computational models for very complex

problems ranging from weather systems to neural pathway signal propagation. Computer vision

researchers have derived motivation for their algorithms from biology and physics for many years as witnessed

by the optical flow algorithm, the oscillator model

underlying graphical cuts and of course neural networks. These algorithms are very helpful for a broad range of

computer vision problems like motion segmentation, texture analysis and change detection. The contents of

this book include chapters in biological vision systems, foundations of chaos and fractals, behavior of images

and image sequences in phase space, mathematical

measures for analyzing phase space, applications to pre-attentive vision and applications to post-attentive vision.

Jadczyk, A. (2014). From Heisenberg's uncertainty to Barnsley's fractality. Singapore: World Scientific. Starting with numerical algorithms

resulting in new kinds of amazing fractal patterns on the sphere, this book describes the theory underlying these

phenomena and indicates possible future applications.

The book also explores the following questions: What are fractals? How do fractal patterns emerge from

quantum observations and relativistic light aberration

effects? What are the open problems with iterated

function systems based on Mobius transformations? Can quantum fractals be experimentally detected? What are

quantum jumps? Is quantum theory complete and/or universal? Is the standard interpretation of Heisenberg's

uncertainty relations accurate? What is Event Enhanced

Quantum Theory and how does it differ from spontaneous localization theories? What are the possible

applications of quantum fractals?

Kazumufi, I., & Bangti, J. (2014). Inverse problems: Tikhonov theory and algorithms.

Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-981-4596-19-0. Inverse problems arise in practical applications

whenever one needs to deduce unknowns from

observables. This monograph is a valuable contribution to the highly topical field of computational inverse

problems. Both mathematical theory and numerical algorithms for model-based inverse problems are

discussed in detail. The mathematical theory focuses on nonsmooth Tikhonov regularization for linear and

nonlinear inverse problems. The computational methods

include nonsmooth optimization algorithms, direct inversion methods and uncertainty quantification via

Bayesian inference. The book offers a comprehensive treatment of modern techniques, and seamlessly blends

regularization theory with computational methods, which

is essential for developing accurate and efficient inversion algorithms for many practical inverse

problems. It demonstrates many current developments in the field of computational inversion, such as value

function calculus, augmented Tikhonov regularization, multi-parameter Tikhonov regularization, semismooth

Newton method, direct sampling method, uncertainty

quantification and approximate Bayesian inference. It is written for graduate students and researchers in

mathematics, natural science and engineering.

Laycraft, K.C. Creativity as an Order through Emotions, Promontory Press, Victoria, BC, Canada

The book contains three parts. In the first part, the basic concepts of chaos theory and the idea of self-

organization are introduced. Some contemporary approaches to emotions are also discussed.

In the second part, the lives of young people are presented and by applying these theories, their

psychological development and creative processes are

interpreted and analyzed. Finally, in the third part, a conceptual model of creativity development is discussed.

The book shows how studying the creativity of adolescents has contributed to research on the

psychological development of young people as a self-

organizing process.

Lichtenstein, B. (2014). Generative Emergence: A New Discipline of Organizational, Entrepreneurial, and Social Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press. How do organizations become

created? Entrepreneurship scholars have debated this

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2014 -15

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2014 -15

question for decades, but only recently have they been

able to gain insights into the non-linear dynamics that lead to organizational emergence, through the use of

the complexity sciences. Written for social science researchers, Generative Emergence summarizes these

literatures, including the first comprehensive review of

each of the 15 complexity science disciplines. In doing so, the book makes a bold proposal for a discipline of

Emergence, and explores one of its proposed fields, namely Generative Emergence. The book begins with a

detailed summary of its underlying science, dissipative structures theory, and rigorously maps the processes of

order creation discovered by that science to identify a 5-

phase model of order creation in entrepreneurial ventures. The second half of the book presents the

findings from an experimental study that tested the model in four fast-growth ventures through a year-long,

week-by-week longitudinal analysis of their processes,

based on over 750 interviews and 1000 hours of on-site observation. These data, combined with reports from

over a dozen other studies, confirm the dynamics of the 5-phase model in multiple contexts. By way of

conclusion, the book explores how the model of Generative Emergence could be applied to enact

emergence within and across organizations.

Lines, Marji (Ed.) (2005). Nonlinear Dynamical Systems in Economics. New York: Springer. Many problems in theoretical economics are mathematically

formalized as dynamical systems of difference and differential equations. In recent years a truly open

approach to studying the dynamical behavior of these models has begun to make its way into the mainstream.

That is, economists formulate their hypotheses and

study the dynamics of the resulting models rather than formulating the dynamics and studying hypotheses that

could lead to models with such dynamics. This is a great progress over using linear models, or using nonlinear

models with a linear approach, or even squeezing

economic models into well-studied nonlinear systems from other fields. There are today a number of economic

journals open to publishing this type of work and some of these have become important. There are several

societies which have annual meetings on the subject and

participation at these has been growing at a good rate. And of course there are methods and techniques avail

able to a more general audience, as well as a greater availability of software for numerical and graphical

analysis that makes this type of research even more exciting. The lecturers for the Advanced School on

Nonlinear Dynamical Systems in Economics, who

represent a wide selection of the research areas to which the theory has been applied, agree on the

importance of simulations and computer-based analysis. The School emphasized computer applications of models

and methods, and all contributors ran computer lab

sessions.

Lucas, K., & Roosen, P. (Eds.). (2012).

Emergence, Analysis and Evolution of Structures. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-00869-6. The

study of structures and structure generating processes is a common concern of all scientific and technical

disciplines. The present volume presents an

interdisciplinary investigation of the different methods of analysis and modelling which, while differing

considerably in detail, usually have evolutionary adaption or development schemes at their core. The

book naturally falls into three parts - a first part summarizing the transdisciplinary fundamentals, a

second part discussing in detail case studies from

various fields (production engineering, medicine, management, molecular biology, energy engineering,

civil engineering, logistics, sociology, physics) and a shorter outlook on the transdisciplinary perspective.

Ma, J., & Wohar, M. (Eds.). (2014). Recent Advances in Estimating Nonlinear Models: With Applications in Economics and Finance. New York:

Springer. This edited volume provides a timely

overview of nonlinear estimation techniques, offering new methods and insights into nonlinear time series

analysis. The focus is on such topics as state-space model and the identification issue, use of Markov

Switching Models and Smooth Transition Models to

analyze economic series, and how best to distinguish between competing nonlinear models. Most economic

theory suggests that the economic relationships among economic variables in the real world are fairly complex

and nonlinear. Nonlinear models are necessary to capture these important channels through which

economic variables can influence each other and various

policies can affect economic activities. This volume features cutting-edge research from leading academics

in economics, finance, and business management. The principles and techniques used here will appeal to

econometricians, finance professors teaching

quantitative finance, researchers, and graduate students interested in learning how to apply advances in

nonlinear time series modeling to solve complex problems in economics and finance. Contents: Chapter 1

Stock Return and Inflation: An Analysis Based on the

State-Space Framework.- Chapter 2 Diffusion Index Model Specification and Estimation: Using Mixed

Frequency Datasets.- Chapter 3 Testing for Neglected Nonlinearity Using Regularized Artificial Neural

Networks.- Chapter 4 On the Use of the Flexible Fourier Form in Unit Roots Tests, Endogenous Breaks, and

Parameter Instability.- Chapter 5 Testing for a Markov-

Switching Mean in Serially-Correlated Data.- Chapter 6 Nonlinear Time Series Models and Model Selection.-

Chapter 7 Nonstationarities and Markov Switching Models.- Chapter 8 Has Wealth Effect Changed Over

Time? Evidence from Four Industrial Countries.- Chapter

9 A Simple Specification Procedure for the Transition Function in Persistent Nonlinear Times Series Models.-

Chapter 10 Small Area Estimation with Correctly

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2014 -16

Specified Linking Models.- Chapter 11 Forecasting Stock

Returns: Does Switching between Models Help?.- Chapter 12 The Global Joint Distribution of Income and

Health.

Mazza C., & Benaim, M. (2014). Stochastic dynamics for systems biology. Boca Raton, FL:

CRC Press. Get Insight on Simulating Biological Processes. This is one of the first books to provide a

systematic study of the many stochastic models used in

systems biology. The book shows how the mathematical models are used as technical tools for simulating

biological processes and how the models lead to conceptual insights on the functioning of the cellular

processing system. Examples cover the phage lambda

genetic switch, eukaryotic gene expression, noise propagation in gene networks, and more.

Mortad, H. M. (2014). Introductory topology.

Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN: 978-981-4583-81-7. The book offers a good introduction to topology

through solved exercises. It is mainly intended for undergraduate students. Most exercises are given with

detailed solutions. Contents: Exercises and Solutions:

General Notions: Sets, Functions et al., Metric Spaces, Topological Spaces, Continuity and Convergence,

Compact Spaces, Connected Spaces, Complete Metric Spaces, Function Spaces.

Nicolis, G., & Basios, V. (Eds.). (2014). Chaos, information processing, and paradoxical games: The Legacy of John S Nicolis. Singapore: World

Scientific. This volume provides a self-contained survey

of the mechanisms presiding information processing and communication. The main thesis is that chaos and

complexity are the basic ingredients allowing systems composed of interesting subunits to generate and

process information and communicate in a meaningful

way. Emphasis is placed on communication in the form of games and on the related issue of decision making

under conditions of uncertainty.

Nicolis, G., & Nicolis, N. (2014). Foundations of Complex Systems: Emergence, Information and Prediction (2nd Edition). Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-981-4366-60-1. This book

provides a self-contained presentation of the physical

and mathematical laws governing complex systems. Complex systems arising in natural, engineering,

environmental, life and social sciences are approached from a unifying point of view using an array of

methodologies such as microscopic and macroscopic level formulations, deterministic and probabilistic tools,

modeling and simulation. The book can be used as a

textbook by graduate students, researchers and teachers in science, as well as non-experts who wish to

have an overview of one of the most open, markedly interdisciplinary and fast-growing branches of present-

day science.

Novikov, D. A., & Alexander G. Chkhartishvili

(2014). Reflexion and control: Mathematical models. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC.

Intended for experts in decision making and control of systems, this book is dedicated to modern approaches to

mathematical modeling of reflexive processes in control.

The book discusses development of modern trends in game theory, Integrates mathematics, psychology, and

other cognitive sciences, uses uniform methodology and mathematical framework to describe and analyze various

situations of collective decision making, and considers reflexive games that describe the game theoretical

interaction of agents making decisions based on a

hierarchy of beliefs.

Rosser, J. B., Holt, R. P. F. & Colander, D. (2010). European economics at a crossroads.

Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. As Europe moves toward an integrated academic system, European

economics is changing. This book discusses that change, along with the changes that are happening

simultaneously within the economics profession. The

authors argue that modern economics can no longer usefully be described as ǹeoclassical', but is much better

described as complexity economics. The complexity approach embraces rather than assumes away the

complexities of social interaction. The authors also argue

that despite all the problems with previous European academic structures, those structures allowed for more

diversity than exists in US universities, and thus were often ahead of US universities in exploring new cutting-

edge approaches. The authors further argue that by trying to judge themselves by US-centric measures and

to copy US universities the European economics

profession is undermining some of the strengths of the older system - strengths on which it should be building.

While the authors agree that European economics needs to go through major changes in the coming decade, they

argue that by building on Europe's strengths, rather than

trying to follow a US example, Europe will be more likely to become the global leader in economics in the coming

decades rather than a second-rate copy of the US. The book consists of two chapters spelling out the authors'

view of the changes in economics and European

economics. This is followed by 11 interviews with a diverse set of innovative European economists from a

range of European countries. In the interviews these European economists reflect on the ongoing changes in

economics generally and in European economics specifically. These interviews demonstrate how the

economics profession is moving away from traditional

neoclassical economics into a dynamic set of new methods and approaches (incorporating work in

behavioral economics, experimental economics, evolutionary game theory and ecological approaches,

complexity and nonlinear dynamics, methodological

analysis, and agent-based modeling) that the authors classify as complexity economics.

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2014 -17

Ruth, M., & Hannon, B. (2012). Modeling Dynamic Economic Systems (2nd ed.).New York: Springer. Models in this book were created using STELLA

software. Economists model the ways in which humans meet their needs using given endowments of resources

and technologies. This book explores the dynamic

processes in economic systems, concentrating on the extraction of resources that are required to meet

economic needs. Using the STELLA® software, Modeling Dynamic Economic Systems applies methods of

computer modeling to a wide range of real-world economic phenomena, demonstrating how to make

informed decisions about economic performance and

environmental quality. Sections of the book cover: methods for dynamic modeling economics with special

emphasis on the microeconomic models of firms, modeling optimal use of both nonrenewable and

renewable resources, and chaos in economic

models. The book does not require a substantial background in mathematics or computer science and

encourages all students and scholars to actively incorporate modeling into their education and

research. A save-disabled version of STELLA and the computer models of this book are available at

www. iseesystems.com/modelingeconomicsystems.

Salem, P. J. (2013). The complexity of human communication (2nd ed.). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Most communication research and most applications of

that research acknowledge the process nature of communication. However, the material following that

acknowledgment conforms to traditional linear and static approaches treating communication as little more than

printed text. This Print Paradigm persists despite

repeated calls to explore the more dynamic nature of communication. In this second edition, the author

updates and expands his argument that communication is a process analogous to the complexity of other living

systems. The author reviews material stretching over

three centuries leading to the development of paradigmatic principles. He describes human information

processing as an autocatalytic process and provides a model of human communication as a socially emergent

process. The author then applies the model to current thinking across a range of common communication

topics. The second edition concludes with two

glossaries: a communication glossary for complexity researchers and a complexity glossary for

communication researchers.

Sibani, P., & Jensen, H. J. (2013). Stochastic dynamics of complex systems from glasses to evolution. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-1-84816-993-7. Dynamical evolution over long time

scales is a prominent feature of all the systems we

intuitively think of as complex — for example, ecosystems, the brain or the economy. In physics, the

term ageing is used for this type of slow change,

occurring over time scales much longer than the

patience, or indeed the lifetime, of the observer. The main focus of this book is on the stochastic processes

which cause ageing, and the surprising fact that the ageing dynamics of systems which are very different at

the microscopic level can be treated in similar ways. The

first part of this book provides the necessary mathematical and computational tools and the second

part describes the intuition needed to deal with these systems. Some of the first few chapters have been

covered in several other books, but the emphasis and selection of the topics reflect both the authors' interests

and the overall theme of the book. The second part

contains an introduction to the scientific literature and deals in some detail with the description of complex

phenomena of a physical and biological nature, for example, disordered magnetic materials,

superconductors and glasses, models of co-evolution in

ecosystems and even of ant behaviour. These heterogeneous topics are all dealt with in detail using

similar analytical techniques. This book emphasizes the unity of complex dynamics and provides the tools

needed to treat a large number of complex systems of current interest. The ideas and the approach to complex

dynamics it presents have not appeared in book form

until now.

Tsonis, A. A. (2008). Randomnicity: Rules and randomness in the realm of the infinite.

Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-1-84816-197-9. This unique book explores the definition, sources and

role of randomness. A joyful discussion with many non-mathematical and mathematical examples leads to the

identification of three sources of randomness:

randomness due to irreversibility which inhibits us from extracting whatever rules may underlie a process,

randomness due to our inability to have infinite power (chaos), and randomness due to many interacting

systems. Here, all sources are found to have something

in common: infinity. The discussion then moves to the physical system (our universe). Through the quantum

mechanical character of small scales, the second law of thermodynamics and chaos, randomness is shown to be

an intrinsic property of nature — this is consistent with

the three sources of randomness identified above. Finally, an explanation is given as to why rules and

randomness cannot exist by themselves, but instead have to coexist. Many examples are presented, ranging

from pure mathematical to natural and social processes, that clearly demonstrate how the combination of rules

and randomness produces the world we live in.

Vallacher, R.R., Coleman, P.T., Nowak, A., Bui-

Wrzosinska, L., Liebovitch, L., Kugler, K., Bartoli, A. (2013). Attracted to conflict: Dynamic foundations of destructive social relations. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-35279-9. Conflict is

inherent in virtually every aspect of human relations, from sport to parliamentary democracy, from fashion in

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2014 -18

the arts to paradigmatic challenges in the sciences, and

from economic activity to intimate relationships. Yet, it can become among the most serious social problems

humans face when it loses its constructive features and becomes protracted over time with no obvious means of

resolution. This book addresses the subject of

intractable social conflict from a new vantage point. Here, these types of conflict represent self-organizing

phenomena, emerging quite naturally from the ongoing dynamics in human interaction at any scale—from the

interpersonal to the international. Using the universal language and computational framework of nonlinear

dynamical systems theory in combination with recent

insights from social psychology, intractable conflict is understood as a system locked in special attractor states

that constrain the thoughts and actions of the parties to the conflict. The emergence and maintenance of

attractors for conflict can be described by means of

formal models that incorporate the results of computer simulations, experiments, field research, and archival

analyses. Multi-disciplinary research reflecting these approaches provides encouraging support for the

dynamical systems perspective. Importantly, this text presents new views on conflict resolution. In contrast to

traditional approaches that tend to focus on basic, short-

lived cause-effect relations, the dynamical perspective emphasizes the temporal patterns and potential for

emergence in destructive relations. Attractor deconstruction entails restoring complexity to a conflict

scenario by isolating elements or changing the feedback

loops among them. The creation of a latent attractor trades on the tendency toward multi-stability in

dynamical systems and entails the consolidation of

incongruent (positive) elements into a coherent structure. In the bifurcation scenario, factors are

identified that can change the number and types of attractors in a conflict scenario. The implementation of

these strategies may hold the key to unlocking

intractable conflict, creating the potential for constructive social relations.

Vialar, T. (2009). Complex and chaotic nonlinear dynamics: Advances in economics and finance, mathematics and statistics. New York: Springer.

Presents comprehensive and interdisciplinary knowledge on complex dynamics. Complex dynamics constitute a

growing and increasingly important area as they offer a

strong potential to explain and formalize natural, physical, financial and economic phenomena. This book

pursues the ambitious goal to bring together an extensive body of knowledge regarding complex

dynamics from various academic disciplines. Beyond its focus on economics and finance, including for instance

the evolution of macroeconomic growth models towards

nonlinear structures as well as signal processing applications to stock markets, fundamental parts of the

book are devoted to the use of nonlinear dynamics in mathematics, statistics, signal theory and processing.

Numerous examples and applications, almost 700

illustrations and numerical simulations based on the use of Matlab make the book an essential reference for

researchers and students from many different disciplines who are interested in the nonlinear field. An appendix

recapitulates the basic mathematical concepts required to use the book.

SCTPLS 2015

SAVE THE DATE: The 25th Annual International SCTPLS Conference is scheduled for Gainesville, Florida (USA) July 29-31, 2015. Watch this space for the CALL FOR PAPERS, impending special guests, dinner with a woolly mammoth, and other good stuff.

Wonderful Webbage The RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS and TEACHERS on the SCTPLS web site have been overhauled. So much so that it needed a new table of contents at the front end. The "page" contains four menus of additional resources, including readings lists, tutorial powerpoints, software downloads, etc.

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2014- 19

Marriage. Just as science has helped us to understand

the physical world, it's now helping us understand the emotional world, too. In his new book, renowned family

therapist John Gottman delves into the unquantifiable realm of love armed with science and logic and emerges

with the knowledge that relationships can be not only

understood, but predicted as well. Based on research done at his Love Lab and other laboratories, Gottman

has discovered that the future of love relationships can be predicted with a startling 91% success rate. These

predictions can help couples to prevent disasters in their relationships, recognize the signs of a promising

relationship, and perhaps more importantly, recognize

the signs of a doomed one. Principia Amoris also introduces Love Equations, a mathematical modeling of

relationships that helps understand predictions. Love Equations are powerful tools that can prevent

relationship distress and heal ailing relationships.

Readers learn about the various research and studies that were done to discover the science behind love, and

are treated to a history of the people, ideas, and events that shaped our current understanding. They also learn

about: The “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” 45 natural principles of love, 5 couple types, 5 recipes for

good relationships, and much more!

Murthy, K. G. (2014). Computational and algorithmic linear algebra and n-dimensional geometry. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-981-4366-62-5. This undergraduate textbook on Linear

Algebra and n-Dimensional Geometry, in a self-teaching

style, is invaluable for sophomore level undergraduates in mathematics, engineering, business, and the sciences.

These are classical subjects on which there are many mathematics books in theorem-proof style, but this

unique volume has its focus on developing the mathematical modeling as well as computational and

algorithmic skills in students at this level. The

explanations in this book are detailed, lucid, and supported with numerous well-constructed examples to

capture the interest and encourage the student to master the material.

Ostrovsky, L. (2014). Asymptotic perturbation pheory of waves. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-1-84816-235-8. This book is an introduction

to the perturbation theory for linear and nonlinear waves in dispersive and dissipative media. The main focus is on

the direct asymptotic method which is based on the

asymptotic expansion of the solution in series of one or more small parameters and demanding finiteness of the

perturbations; this results in slow variation of the main-order solution. The method, which does not depend on

integrability of basic equations, is applied to quasi-harmonic and non-harmonic periodic waves, as well as

to localized waves such as solitons, kinks, and

autowaves. The basic theoretical ideas are illustrated by many physical examples throughout the book.

Tartakovsky, A., Nikiforov, I., & Basseville, M.

(2015). Sequential Analysis: Hypothesis Testing and Changepoint Detection. Boca Raton, FL: CRC

Press. The book systematically develops the theory of sequential hypothesis testing and quickest changepoint

detection. It also describes important applications in

which theoretical results can be used efficiently. The book reviews recent accomplishments in hypothesis

testing and changepoint detection both in decision-theoretic (Bayesian) and non-decision-theoretic (non-

Bayesian) contexts. The authors not only emphasize traditional binary hypotheses but also substantially more

difficult multiple decision problems. They address

scenarios with simple hypotheses and more realistic cases of two and finitely many composite hypotheses.

The book primarily focuses on practical discrete-time models, with certain continuous-time models also

examined when general results can be obtained very

similarly in both cases. It treats both conventional i.i.d. and general non-i.i.d. stochastic models in detail,

including Markov, hidden Markov, state-space, regression, and autoregression models. Rigorous proofs

are given for the most important results. Written by leading authorities in the field, this book covers the

theoretical developments and applications of sequential

hypothesis testing and sequential quickest changepoint detection in a wide range of engineering and

environmental domains. It explains how the theoretical aspects influence the hypothesis testing and

changepoint detection problems as well as the design of

algorithms.

Xiong, B., & Li, P. Y. (2010). Mathematical Olympiad in China (2009-2010): Problems and Solutions. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-

981-4390-21-7. The International Mathematical Olympiad

(IMO) is a competition for high school students. China has taken part in the IMO 21 times since 1985 and has won the top ranking for countries 14 times, with a multitude of golds for individual students. The six students China has sent every year were selected from 20 to 30 students among approximately 130 students who took part in the annual China Mathematical Competition during the winter months. This volume of comprises a collection of original problems with solutions that China used to train their Olympiad team in the years from 2009 to 2010. Mathematical Olympiad problems

with solutions for the years 2002–2008 appear in an earlier volume, Mathematical Olympiad in China.

Xiong, B., Zheng, Z., Liu, R., Zhai, M., & Lin, Y. (2010). Graph theory. Singapore: World

Scientific. ISBN: 978-981-4271-12-7. In 1736, the

mathematician Euler invented graph theory while solving the Konigsberg seven-bridge problem. Over 200 years

later, graph theory remains the skeleton content of discrete mathematics, which serves as a theoretical

basis for computer science and network information

science. This book introduces some basic knowledge and the primary methods in graph theory by many

interesting problems and games.

SCTPLS Newsletter, January 2015 - 15

Baofu, P. (2007). The Future of Complexity: Conceiving a Better Way to Understand Order and Chaos. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-981-270-898-4.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom held by many contemporaries in our time, the popularity of studying complexity is fast becoming a new fad in the intellectual scene. However, can the study of complex phenomena truly reveal recognizable patterns (with predictable outcomes) to enhance our understanding of reality, especially when it is embedded within the messy web of complexity? If so, what then are the limits? This book strives to demolish some of the myths surrounding the nature of complexity and, in the process, to provide an original theory to understand it in this world and beyond. It introduces the author's dialectic theory of complexity, together with the theoretical debate in the literature. It expounds on the concept of complexity from various perspectives, including chemistry, micro- and macro-physics, biology and psychology. It also examines the nature of complexity from societal and cultural perspectives. This book presents a broad view on the nature of complexity, adequately introducing the reader to this emerging field.

Ivancevic, V. G., & Reid, D. J. (2014). Complexity and control: Towards a rigorous behavioral theory of complex dynamical systems. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-981-4635-86-8. The book Complexity and

Control: Towards a Rigorous Behavioral Theory of Complex Dynamical Systems is a graduate-level monographic textbook, intended to be a novel and rigorous contribution to modern Complexity Theory. This book contains 11 chapters and is designed as a one-semester course for engineers, applied and pure mathematicians, theoretical and experimental physicists, computer and economic scientists, theoretical chemists and biologists, as well as all mathematically educated scientists and students, both in industry and academia, interested in

predicting and controlling complex dynamical systems of arbitrary nature.

Stefański, A. (2009). Determining Thresholds of Complete Synchronization, and Application. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-981-283-766-0. This book is

devoted to the phenomenon of synchronization and its application for determining the values of Lyapunov exponents. In recent years, the idea of synchronization has become an object of great interest in many areas of science, e.g., biology, communication or laser physics. Over the last decade, new types of synchronization have been identified and some interesting new ideas concerning the synchronization have also appeared. This book presents the complete synchronization problem rather than just results from the research. The

problem is demonstrated in relation to a kind of coupling applied between dynamical systems, whereby a unique classification of possible couplings is introduced. Another novel feature is the connection presented between synchronization and the problem of determining the Lyapunov exponents, especially for non-differentiable systems. A detailed proposal of

such an estimation method and examples of its application are included.

Coming Soon from NDPLS Special Issue Scheduled for 2015: Optimum Variability. It

is now well known that healthy heart rate variability is chaotic and not rigidly oscillating. The principle of healthy variability has extended to other biomedical and psychological phenomena. What is the status of the research in any of the application areas? To elaborate further, some thought has been given to the idea that optimum variability results from a combination of the minimum entropy or free energy principle that pushes in a downward direction, and Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety that pushes in an upward direction. As a result, NDPLS would like to expand the scope of this particular topic into a special issue. Certain aspects of this topic area have been well subscribed already, and manuscripts by several author groups are in progress. Articles that we would like to present next include: new empirical studies that expand our understanding of one or more applications of the optimum variability principle; review studies that are specific to applications of the optimum variability principles in social psychology, abnormal psychology, organizational behavior, and economics; and empirical studies in the areas described above.

SCTPLS Newsletter, April 2015 - 11

Boehm-Davis, D. A., Durso, F. T., & Lee, J. D. (Eds.). (2015). APA Handbook of Human Systems Integration. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. ISBN: 978-1-4338-1828-8. The APA Handbook of Human Systems Integration is a practical tool for both students and professionals who need specific knowledge about human considerations in systems design. It is intended to sensitize readers to basic design issues, enhance their understanding of the influence of these issues, and guide them in appropriately combining human performance with a system's numerous interacting components. A central tenet of this book is that it is not sufficient to examine items independently — one must go beyond a focus on individual workers, tools, tasks, or environments. Thus, the handbook is a "how to" resource that reflects the state-of-the-art on work in this enterprise. The book's opening chapters define what is meant by human systems integration, provide a historical overview of the field, and describe a set of case studies to which many chapter authors apply their expertise. Succeeding chapters reflect on the physical, physiological, perceptual, cognitive, and organizational considerations that affect human systems performance and discuss how the knowledge base of the field has been applied in various domains. The remaining chapters describe the trade-offs associated with integrating individual considerations and systems performance, discussing how a decision that optimizes performance in one area (e.g., display design) may entail a reduction of performance in another area (e.g., staffing or personnel selection).

Boulton, J. G., Allen, P. M., & Bowman, C. (2015).

Embracing Complexity Strategic Perspectives for an Age of Turbulence. Oxford, UK and New York: Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-956526-9.

The book describes what it means to say the world is

complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book

is about the theory and ideas of complexity. This is explained in a way that is thorough but not

mathematical. It compares differing approaches, and

also provides a historical perspective, showing how such thinking has been around since the beginning of

civilization. It emphasizes the difference between a

complexity worldview and the dominant mechanical worldview that underpins much of current management

practice. It defines the complexity worldview as

recognizing the world is interconnected, shaped by history and the particularities of context. The

comparison of the differing approaches to modelling complexity is unique in its depth and accessibility. The

second part of the book uses this lens of complexity to explore issues in the fields of management, strategy,

economics, and international development. It also

explores how to facilitate others to recognize the implications of adopting a complex rather than a

mechanical worldview and suggests methods of research to explore systemic, path-dependent emergent aspects

of situations. The authors of this book span both

science and management, academia and practice, thus the explanations of science are authoritative and yet the

examples of changing how you live and work in the world are real and accessible. The aim of the book is to

bring alive what complexity is all about and to illustrate the importance of loosening the grip of a modernist

worldview with its hope for prediction, certainty and

control.

Hiroyasu, I. (2015). Predicting the impact of patents. Tokyo: Springer.

This is the first book that comprehensively analyzes joint

applications of patents from the European Union, Japan and the United States, which directly signify

collaborations between companies or inventors, using the methodology of network science. Network science

approaches enable us to predict structures of joint-

application networks and to predict the impact of patents applied jointly. Regression analyses, which are

broadly used in the field of economics, may be effective for determining what parameters are important for

companies or inventors that are going to be connected,

but they normally cannot rebuild the structures of networks from the model found through the analyses.

Generative models in network science predict the probability of new connections for nodes. In line with

this approach, this book also shows specific characteristics of joint-application networks of patents,

such as link distance and layer interaction and it

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2015 - 15

introduces models explaining the characteristics. This

book discusses not only network structures but the impact of patents on networks, which is practically

important. Again, a model found through regression analyses may show significant variables that make it

possible to predict the impact of patents but such a

model is generally not practically beneficial because the actual situations in which patents are created are so

complex. However, if we restrict the situations for joint applications, that is, networks, we can get clear

distributions of the impact of patents. This book describes how the impact of patents repeatedly applied

by the same team decays and what the proper timing is

to leave a decaying relationship.

Hopcraft, K. I., Jakeman, E., Ridley, K. D. (2014). The Dynamics of Discrete Populations and Series of Events. Boca Raton, FL: C R C Press. ISBN 9781420060676. Discrete phenomena are an important aspect of various complex systems, acting both as underlying driving mechanisms and as manifestations of diverse behaviors. However, the characterization of these discrete phenomena requires models that go beyond those featured in existing books. Largely concerned with mathematical models used to describe time-varying populations and series of events. This book demonstrates how analytical tools are used to develop, simulate, and solve discrete stochastic models. It provides an understanding of the effect of the competing processes governing the changing number of individuals present in a population, and shows how relatively simple models can be used to generate a wide range of behaviors. The authors present a comprehensive analysis of the classic problem of the evolution of a population subjected to births, deaths, and immigration, and the process of monitoring such a population, either by counting individuals within the population or individuals that leave the population, consider less familiar population models which have no continuous counterparts and shows how these may exhibit sub-Poisson traits and odd/even effects in their fluctuations, and develop models of populations subject to simultaneous multiple immigrations and shows how these can be used to produce a model with any desired equilibrium distribution. Applications to the important class of stable distributions is examined in detail. Makato, M. (2016) Complex Modeling of Consumer Behavior. Tokyo: Springer.

This book reports what progress is being and should be made in marketing science by social complexity science through such means as agent-based modeling and complex networks, which is seldom addressed by books reviewing the state of the art of marketing research or marketing science. Recently, as the penetration of brand-new communication technologies such as social media or mobile phones is connecting consumers more tightly than ever, marketers should understand and harness complex social interactions between consumers as well as between consumers and firms. Traditional

marketing science does not sufficiently capture such phenomena; hence, the emerging alternative approaches are reflecting advances in social complexity science. The aim of this book is to give an overview of these newly emerging research trends, focusing mainly on the following three topics: diffusion of new products, choice and relationship with existing brands and marketing communication including consumers’ word-of-mouth. These topics have attracted a lot of attention among marketers in particular in rapidly growing markets such as hi-tech or services, where consumers’ mutual interaction and their bounded-rational behavior play critical roles. The prospective readers of this book include researchers, graduate students and practitioners with high expertise (e.g. data scientists) in both marketing/consumer research areas and complexity science areas such as computer science, physics and mathematical social science. The book serves as a bridge by providing the evolving knowledge on social complexity modeling for marketing researchers and the accumulated knowledge on marketing/consumer research for complexity researchers. In addition to reviewing previous and ongoing studies, this book offers the agenda for future researchers to discuss what problems have not been solved yet and need social complexity science approaches. Available now in e-book form.

Meron, E. (2015). Nonlinear Physics of Ecosystems. Boca Raton, FL: C R C Press. ISBN 9781439826317. This book introduces the concepts and tools of pattern formation theory and demonstrates their utility in ecological research using problems from spatial ecology. Written in language understandable to both physicists and ecologists in most parts, the book reveals the mechanisms of pattern formation and pattern dynamics. It also explores the implications of these mechanisms in important ecological problems. The first part of the book gives an overview of pattern formation and spatial ecology, showing how these disparate research fields are strongly related to one another. The next part presents an advanced account of pattern formation theory. The final part describes applications of pattern formation theory to ecological problems, including self-organized vegetation patchiness, desertification, and biodiversity in changing environments. It focuses on the emerging interface between spatial ecology and pattern formation, this book shows how pattern formation methods address a variety of ecological problems using water-limited ecosystems as a case study. Readers with basic knowledge of linear algebra and ordinary differential equations will develop a general understanding of pattern formation theory while more advanced readers who are familiar with partial differential equations will appreciate the descriptions of analytical tools used to study pattern formation and dynamics. Mills, T. (Ed.). (2015). Time series econometrics. Abbington, Oxon, UK: Routledge.

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2015 - 16

In the memorable words of Ragnar Frisch, econometrics is ‘a unification of the theoretical–quantitative and the empirical–quantitative approach to economic problems’. Beginning to take shape in the 1930s and 1940s, econometrics is now recognized as a vital subdiscipline supported by a vast—and still rapidly growing—body of literature. Following the positive reception of The Rise of Econometrics (2013) (978-0-415-61678-2), Routledge now announces a new collection from its Critical Concepts in Economics series. With a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the assembled materials in their historical and intellectual context, Time Series Econometrics is an essential work of reference. This fully indexed collection will be particularly useful as an essential database allowing scattered and often fugitive material to be easily located. It will also be welcomed as a crucial tool permitting rapid access to less familiar—and sometimes overlooked—texts. For researchers and students, as well as economic policy-makers, it is a vital one-stop research and pedagogic resource. Nicolis, G., & Basios, V. (Eds.). (2015). Chaos, Information Processing and Paradoxical Games: The Legacy of John S Nicolis. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-981-4602-12-9. This volume provides a self-contained survey of the mechanisms presiding information processing and communication. The main thesis is that chaos and complexity are the basic ingredients allowing systems composed of interesting subunits to generate and process information and communicate in a meaningful way. Emphasis is placed on communication in the form of games and on the related issue of decision making under conditions of uncertainty. Biological, cognitive, physical, engineering and societal systems are approached from a unifying point of view, both analytically and by numerical simulation, using the methods of nonlinear dynamics and probability theory. Epistemological issues in connection with incompleteness and self-reference are also addressed. Contents: Glimpses at Nonlinear Dynamics & Chaos: Bohmian Trajectories in the Scattering Problem (G Contopoulos, N Delis & C Efthymiopoulos); Scaling Properties of the Lorenz System and Dissipative Nambu Mechanics (Minos Axenides & Emmanuel Floratos); Extreme Events in Nonlinear Lattices (G P Tsironis, N Lazarides, A Maluckov & Lj Hadžievski); Coarse Graining Approach to Chaos (Donal MacKernan); Fractal Parameter Space of Lorenz-like Attractors: A Hierarchical Approach (Tingli Xing, Jeremy Wojcik, Michael A Zaks & Andrey Shilnikov). Chaos and Information: Quantum Theory of Jaynes' Principle, Bayes' Theorem, and Information (Hermann Haken); Information Processing with Page–Wootters States (Stam Nicolis); Stochastic Resonance and Information Processing (C Nicolis); Selforganization of Symbols and Information (Werner Ebeling & Rainer Feistel). Biological Information Processing: Historical Contingency in Controlled Evolution (Peter Schuster); Long-Range Order and Fractality in the Structure and Organization of Eukaryotic Genomes (Dimitris Polychronopoulos, Giannis Tsiagkas, Labrini Athanasopoulou, Diamantis Sellis & Yannis

Almirantis); Towards Resolving the Enigma of HOX Gene Collinearity (Spyros Papageorgiou). Complexity, Chaos & Cognition: Thermodynamics of Cerebral Cortex Assayed by Measures of Mass Action (Walter J Freeman); Describing the Neuron Axons Network of the Human Brain by Continuous Flow Models (J Hizanidis, P Katsaloulis, D A Verganelakis & A Provata); Cognition and Language: From Apprehension to Judgment — Quantum Conjectures (F T Arecchi); Dynamical Systems++ for a Theory of Biological System (Kunihiko Kaneko); Logic Dynamics for Deductive Inference — Its Stability and Neural Basis (Ichiro Tsuda);. Dynamical Games and Collective Behaviours: Microscopic Approach to Species Coexistence Based on Evolutionary Game Dynamics (Celso Grebogi, Ying-Cheng Lai & Wen-Xu Wang); Phase Transitions in Models of Bird Flocking (H Christodoulidi, K van der Weele, Ch G Antonopoulos & T Bountis); Animal Construction as a Free Boundary Problem: Evidence of Fractal Scaling Laws (S C Nicolis); Extended Self Organised Criticality in Asynchronously Tuned Cellular Automata (Yukio-Pegio Gunji); Epilogue: A Posthumous Dialogue with John Nicolis: IERU (Otto E Rössler); Appendix: Selected References from John Nicolis' Bibliography. Rinaldi, S. Della Rossa, F., Dercole, F., Gragnani, A., & Landi, P. (2015). Modeling love dynamics. Singapore: World Scientific. From the preface: This book shows how love stories—an issue of vital concern in our lives—can be tentatively described using mathematical models. As modeling will be a relatively unfamiliar technique to some readers, we first explain in this Preface why have we developed mathematical models and why are they important for scientific research. We then focus on the aim of the book, namely, on obtaining and analyzing some of the most reliable mathematical models available in the literature for describing love stories. These models allow us to formally derive, in agreement with the basic principles of the psychology of love, how love affairs are expected to evolve from the initial state of indifference to the final romantic regime. Here we present the conceptual models used in the last decades to describe the development of love affairs. The most simple of them are oversimplified given the complexity of the phenomena characterizing interpersonal relationships. They aim to capture the involvement of an individual by means of a single variable, called feeling (or love). Thus, the conceptual models of a couple are composed of two ODEs, one for each individual. This extreme simplicity prevents a rich variety of interesting details—discovered on the basis of interviews, self-reports, and psychoanalysis—being included in the model. The two ODEs are a simple balance between production and consumption flows of love. In accordance with the basic and well established principles of the psychology of love, the production flow is the reaction of an individual to the care expected from the partner. To be more specific, this expectation is split into two components. The first is associated with the involvement of the partner and is responsible for what is called the reaction to love, while the second depends only on other traits (beauty, age, social position, wealth, etc.) and gives rise to the

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2015 - 17

reaction to appeal. The consumption flow is simply the consequence of the oblivion process— the forgetting of past involvements is necessary to make possible a return to the “gene market” after abandoning or being abandoned by a partner. Oblivion thus has an obvious evolutionary origin. Given that reaction functions depend on love, different classes of individuals with different behaviors can be identified (secure, insecure, unbiased, synergic, platonic). The aim of this book is, in a sense, to show how the evolution of a love story can be virtually predicted from the behavioral characteristics identifying the different categories to which the individuals belong. The identification of micro-macro links of this kind has always been an important issue in the social sciences.

Tatarinova, T., & Schumitzky, A. (2015). Nonlinear Mixture Models: A Bayesian Approach. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN: 978-1-84816-756-8.

This book, written by two mathematicians from the University of Southern California, provides a broad

introduction to the important subject of nonlinear mixture models from a Bayesian perspective. It contains

background material, a brief description of Markov chain

theory, as well as novel algorithms and their applications. It is self-contained and unified in

presentation, which makes it ideal for use as an advanced textbook by graduate students and as a

reference for independent researchers. The explanations

in the book are detailed enough to capture the interest of the curious reader, and complete enough to provide

the necessary background material needed to go further into the subject and explore the research literature. In

this book the authors present Bayesian methods of

analysis for nonlinear, hierarchical mixture models, with a finite, but possibly unknown, number of components.

These methods are then applied to various problems including population pharmacokinetics and gene

expression analysis. In population pharmacokinetics, the nonlinear mixture model, based on previous clinical data,

becomes the prior distribution for individual therapy. For

gene expression data, one application included in the book is to determine which genes should be associated

with the same component of the mixture (also known as a clustering problem). The book also contains examples

of computer programs written in BUGS. This is the first

book of its kind to cover many of the topics in this field.

Contents: Introduction, Mathematical Description of

Nonlinear Mixture Models, Label Switching and Trapping, Treatment of Mixture Models with an Unknown Number

of Components, Applications of BDMCMC, KLMCMC, and RPS, Nonparametric Methods, Bayesian Clustering

Methods.

West, B. J. (2015). Tomorrow’s Science: Fractional Calculus View of Complexity. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

From the preface: This book is based, in large part, on a lecture I gave at the Network Frontier Workshop at Northwestern University in December of 2013. The lecture was a tutorial intended to explain the quantitative reasoning entailed by the fractional calculus applied to complex physical, social and biological phenomena. The reason to study the fractional calculus is its inextricable link to complexity and that it provides a way to think systematically about complex phenomena in general and complex networks in particular. The ordinary calculus provided ways to organize our thinking about such physical phenomena as acoustic and electromagnetic waves, diffusion and even quantum mechanics. However, it does not do well with the complexity of earthquakes, avalanches, turbulence, cognition and stock market crashes. For these and other complex phenomena the notions of scaling and fractals were introduced and through them new ways of thinking were developed.

West, B. J., Turalska, M., & Grigolini, P. (2014). Network of echoes: Imitation, innovation and invisible leaders. New York: Springer. From chapter 1: It is not only our external world that is cluttered with networks, but our internal world as well. The neuronal network carrying the brain’s signal to the body’s physiological networks is even more complex than the modern city or typical ecological network. Consequently it is premature to assign preeminence to any one network or collection of networks from any particular discipline before we understand the patterns form by the multiple interactions within and among them. Thus, basic research into network science must span and encompass the complete spectrum of scientific disciplines from the weights and measure of physical experiments to the questionnaires of social trials. The problem address in this book is to determine if foundational principles of networks exist that support the linkages and interpenetration of the physical (computers and smartphones) and human (cognitive and social) domains and if indication of their existence are found to develop them as they relate to the complex phenomenon of decision making. This approach is not directed at the totality of developing a Network Science, but has the more modest goal of understanding the deeply interdependent physical and human networks of crucial importance to the understanding of the phenomenon of decision making.

SCTPLS Newsletter, October 2015 - 18

Alvarenga, M., & Byrne, D. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of psychocardiology. New York: Springer. This handbook brings together the full weight

of contemporary evidence bearing on what is now commonly termed “psycho-cardiology”. It focuses on the

role of psycho-social factors in the genesis and clinical management of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The book

constitutes a critically reviewed compendium of current

knowledge in the area, coupled with guides to evidence-based best practice in the field of psycho-

cardiology. The following categories are covered: Social/demographic risk for CVD, Personality

and CVD risk, Stress and CVD risk, Psychopathology

(particularly affective disorders) and CVD risk, the psychological management of those with clinical CVD,

Psychology in the prevention of CVD. The book integrates the evidence into a compelling argument that

clinicians, researchers and those in public health will discount the role of psychological factors in regard to

CVD at their own peril. And importantly for clinicians

charged with the care of patients with CVD, the book poses the argument that failure to recognize the

links between psychological factors and CVD may well be at the considerable peril of those patients under their

care. Includes nonlinear dynamics and heart rate

variability. Biggiero, L., Angelini, P. P., Basevi, M., Carbonara, N., Mastrogiorgio, A., Pessa, E., Sevi, E., & Valente, M. (2016). Relational methodologies and epistemology in economics and management sciences. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. The social

sciences, especially economics, management, and organizational science, are experiencing a tremendous

renewed interest for their epistemological and methodological statutes, as witnessed by the many

books and specialized journals established during the

last two decades. This book identifies and presents the four main network-based methodologies including

network analysis, Boolean network simulation modeling, artificial neural network simulation modeling, and agent-

based simulation modeling in addition to their conceptual-epistemological implications and concrete applications within the social and natural sciences.

Contents, section 1, Theoretical Aspects presents network analysis, NK simulations, neural networks and

agent-based models. Section 2 presents a variety of applications in organizational behavior and economics.

Cloutier, R., Baldwin, C., & Bone, M. A. (2015). Systems engineering simplified. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Designed to give non-engineers an understanding of systems engineering, Systems Engineering Simplified presents a gentle introduction to the subject and its importance in any profession. The book shows you how to look at any system as a whole and use this knowledge to gain a better understanding of where a system might break down, how to troubleshoot the issues, and then quickly resolve them. And does it all in a way that does not require sophisticated technical training or complicated mathematics. The book takes a holistic approach to thinking about the complex systems, providing a deeper understanding of the underlying nature of the system and the vocabulary of systems engineering. The authors give you working knowledge of the processes used to design, build, test, operate, and maintain the systems that we depend on every day. They break down the systems engineering life cycle, describing in the simplest terms what should be done along the development process. Although there are many facets of systems engineering, it can be explained as focusing on addressing why a system is needed, what the system must do, and then how the system will accomplish the task over the entire life of the system—in that order. This fundamental review covers the processes from beginning to end, in plain language, giving you an overview of systems engineering that you can translate into your work in any field. Gruyitch, L. T. (2016). Nonlinear systems tracking. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Tracking is the goal of control of any object, plant, process, or vehicle. From vehicles and missiles to power plants, tracking is essential to guarantee high-quality behavior. This book establishes the tracking theory, track ability theory, and tracking control synthesis for time-varying nonlinear plants and their control systems as parts of control theory. Treating general dynamical and control systems, including subclasses of input-output and state-space nonlinear systems, the book: describes the crucial tracking control concepts that comprise effective tracking control algorithms; defines the main tracking and trackability properties involved, identifying properties both perfect and imperfect; details the corresponding conditions needed for the controlled plant to exhibit each property; discusses various algorithms for tracking control synthesis, attacking the tracking control synthesis problems themselves; depicts the effective synthesis of the tracking control, under the action of which, the plant behavior satisfies all the imposed tracking requirements resulting from its purpose.

SCTPLS Newsletter, April 2016 - 10

Kamath, M. V., Watanabke, M., & Upton, A. (Eds., 2012). Heart rate variability (HRV) signal analysis: Clinical applications. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Open a window into the autonomic nervous system. Quantifying the amount of autonomic nervous

system activity in an individual patient can be extremely important, because it provides a gauge of disease

severity in a large number of diseases. Heart rate

variability (HRV) calculated from both short-term and longer-term electrocardiograms is an ideal window into

such autonomic activity for two reasons: one, heart rate is sensitive to autonomic activity in the entire body, and

two, recording electrocardiograms is inexpensive and non-invasive unlike other techniques currently available

for autonomic assessment, such as microneurography

and metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scanning. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Signal Analysis: Clinical

Applications provides a comprehensive review of three major aspects of HRV: mechanism, technique, and

clinical applications. Learn techniques for HRV signal

analysis. Edited by an engineer, a cardiologist, and a neurologist, and featuring contributions by widely

published international researchers, this interdisciplinary book begins by reviewing the many signal processing

techniques developed to extract autonomic activity information embedded in heart-rate records. The

classical time and frequency domain measures,

baroreceptor sensitivity, and newer non-linear measures of HRV are described with a fair amount of mathematical

detail with the biomedical engineer and mathematically oriented physician in mind. The book also covers two

recent HRV methods, heart-rate turbulence and phase-

rectified signal averaging. Use of HRV in clinical care: The large clinical section is a must-read for clinicians and

engineers wishing to get an insight into how HRV is applied in medicine. Nineteen chapters altogether are

devoted to uses of HRV in: Monitoring—for example to

predict potential complications in pregnancies, fetal distress, and in neonatal critical care; Acute care—for

gauging the depth of anesthesia during surgery and predicting change in patient status in the intensive care

unit; Chronic disorders—for assessing the severity of congestive heart failure, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and

depression. Bringing together the latest research, this

comprehensive reference demonstrates the utility and potential of HRV signal analysis in both the clinic and

physiology laboratory.

Koopmans, M., & Stamovlasis, D. (2016). Complex Dynamical Systems in Education: Concepts, Methods and Applications. New York: Springer. This book capitalizes on the developments in dynamical

systems and education by presenting some of the most

recent advances in this area in seventeen non-overlapping chapters. The first half of the book

discusses the conceptual framework of complex dynamical systems and its applicability to educational

processes. The second half presents a set of empirical

studies that illustrate the use of various research methodologies to investigate complex dynamical

processes in education, and help the reader appreciate

what we learn about dynamical processes in education from using these approaches. Magnusson, M. S., Burgoon, J. K., & Casarrubea,

M. (Eds., 2016). Discovering Hidden Temporal Patterns in Behavior and Interaction T-Pattern Detection and Analysis with THEME™. New York: Springer. Discovering hidden recurring patterns in observable behavioral processes is an important

issue frequently faced by numerous advanced students and researchers across many research areas,

including psychology, biology, sports, robotics, media,

finance, and medicine. As generally, the many powerful methods included in statistical software packages were

not developed for this kind of analysis, discovering such patterns has proven a particularly difficult task, due to a

lack of (a) adequate formalized models of the kinds of

patterns to look for, (b) corresponding detection algorithms and (c) their implementation in available

software. The research described in this book is based on the application of such pattern types, algorithms

and software developed from the late seventies to the present in the context of research in collaboration with

human and animal behavioral research teams at

internationally leading universities in the US and Europe, thus testing the usefulness and validity of the pattern

types, algorithms and software in numerous research areas. With the (scale independent statistical hierarchical

and fractal-like) T-Pattern at its heart, a set of proposed

pattern types, called the T-System, forms the basis for the search algorithms implemented as the software

THEME (TM) (vs. 6), which is easily available in free educational and full commercial versions.

Masys, A. J. (Ed.). (2015). Appl icat ions of systems think ing and soft operat ions research in managing complex i ty: From problem fram ing to problem solv ing . NY: Springer. This book

captures current trends and developments in the field of systems thinking and soft operations research which can be applied to solve today's problems of dynamic complexity and interdependency. Such ‘wicked problems’ and messes are seemingly intractable problems characterized as value-laden, ambiguous, and unstable, that resist being tamed by classical problem solving. Actions and interventions associated with this complex problem space can have highly unpredictable and unintended consequences. Examples of such complex problems include health care reform, global climate change, transnational serious and organized crime, terrorism, homeland security, human security, disaster management, and humanitarian aid. Moving towards the development of solutions to these complex problem spaces depends on the lens we use to examine them and how we frame the problem. It will be shown that systems thinking and soft operations research has had great success in contributing to the management of complexity.

SCTPLS Newsletter, April 2016 - 11

Bornas, X. (2016). Psicopatología y caos (2nd ed.). Madrid, Spain: Bubok. [in Spanish.] Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (NDS) theory provides powerful tools, both conceptual and methodological, for the study of psychopathology (e.g. anxiety disorders). However, Psychology students often lack the required mathematical background to fully understand the main NDS concepts and methods, and therefore they need non-technical (though rigorous) explanations and examples. This book has been written for them and for those in the Clinical Psychology field who are not familiar with the NDS approach. The first chapters (1 to 6) are devoted to concepts (e.g. irregularity and health, fractal phenomena in psychophysiology, etc.) and methods to estimate complexity (e.g. entropy indexes, detrended fluctuation analysis, correlation dimension...). There is one chapter devoted to Psychotherapy where a model of change based on the interplay between emotional inertia and treatment energy is introduced. Chapters 8 to 11 summarize current NDS based findings for psychological disorders (anxiety, bipolar, depression). Specific parts of the book can be of interest for Neuroscience students also. For instance, in chapter 11 we describe how the nonlinear analysis of EEG signals has proved to be relevant to understand some brain dynamics' features associated with depression. Casals, J., Garcia-Hiernaux, A., Jerez, M., Sotoca, C., & Trindade, A. T. (2016). State-space methods for time series analysis: Theory, applications and software. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. The state-space approach provides a formal framework where any result or procedure developed for a basic model can be seamlessly applied to a standard formulation written in state-space form. Moreover, it can accommodate with a reasonable effort nonstandard situations, such as observation errors, aggregation constraints, or missing in-sample values. Exploring the advantages of this approach, the book presents many computational procedures that can be applied to a previously specified linear model in state-space form. After discussing the formulation of the state-space model, the book illustrates the flexibility of the state-space representation and covers the main state

estimation algorithms: filtering and smoothing. It then shows how to compute the Gaussian likelihood for unknown coefficients in the state-space matrices of a given model before introducing subspace methods and their application. It also discusses signal extraction, describes two algorithms to obtain the VARMAX matrices corresponding to any linear state-space model, and addresses several issues relating to the aggregation and disaggregation of time series. The book concludes with a cross-sectional extension to the classical state-space formulation in order to accommodate longitudinal or panel data. Missing data is a common occurrence here, and the book explains imputation procedures necessary to treat missingness in both exogenous and endogenous variables. The authors’ E4 MATLAB® toolbox offers all the computational procedures, administrative and analytical functions, and related materials for time series analysis. This flexible, powerful, and free software tool enables readers to replicate the practical examples in the text and apply the procedures to their own work.

Flach, J. M., & Voorhorst, F. A. (2014). What matters? Putting common sense to work. Core Scholar. http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/books/127/ . (Free

download). A cognitive psychologist and an industrial

design engineer draw from their experiences trying to

make technology work for people to reflect on the

foundations of Cognitive Science and Product Design. This

work is motivated by the sense that there is a large gap

between the type of experiences studied in laboratories

and the everyday experiences of people working with

technology. This has led the authors to question the

metaphysical foundations of cognitive science and to

suggest alternative directions that might provide better

insights for design. An important inspiration for this

alternative direction is Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality

described in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

and Lila. The goal is to move beyond ‘information

processing’ and the computer metaphor, toward ‘meaning

creation’ as inspired by recent discoveries in dynamics

and self-organizing systems. This book takes the reader

on a journey beyond the conventional dichotomy of mind

and matter to explore a world of ‘what matters’ in hopes

of inspiring the design of human-technology systems that

work beautifully.

Jabbari, E., Kim, D-H., Lee, L. P., Ghaemmaghami, A., & Khademhosseini, A. (Eds., 2016). Handbook

of Biomimetics and Bioinspiration. Singapore: World Scientific. Global warming, pollution, food and

water shortage, cyberspace insecurity, over-population,

land erosion, and an overburdened health care system are

major issues facing the human race and our planet. These

challenges have presented a mandate to develop

“natural” or “green” technologies using nature and the

living system as a guide to rationally design processes,

devices, and systems. This approach has given rise to a

new paradigm, one in which innovation goes hand-in-

hand with less waste, less pollution, and less invasiveness

to life on earth. Bioinspiration has also led to the

development of technologies that mimic the hierarchical

complexity of biological systems, leading to novel highly

efficient, more reliable multifunctional materials, devices,

and systems that can perform multiple tasks at one time.

This multi-volume handbook focuses on the application of

biomimetics and bioinspiration in medicine and

engineering to produce miniaturized multi-functional

materials, devices, and systems to perform complex

tasks. Our understanding of complex biological systems

at different length scales has increased dramatically as

our ability to observe nature has expanded from macro to

molecular scale, leading to the rational biologically-driven

design to find solution to technological problems in

medicine and engineering. This three-volume set covers

the fields of bioinspired materials, electromechanical

systems developed from concepts inspired by nature, and

tissue models respectively.

Manneville, P. (2010). Instabilities, Chaos and Turbulence (2nd Edition). Singapore: World Scientific. This book (2nd edition) is a self-contained

introduction to a wide body of knowledge on nonlinear dynamics and chaos. Manneville emphasises the

understanding of basic concepts and the nontrivial

character of nonlinear response, contrasting it with the intuitively simple linear response. He explains the

theoretical framework using pedagogical examples from fluid dynamics, though prior knowledge of this field is not

required. Heuristic arguments and worked examples

replace most esoteric technicalities. Only basic understanding of mathematics and physics is required, at

the level of what is currently known after one or two years of undergraduate training: elementary calculus, basic

notions of linear algebra and ordinary differential calculus, and a few fundamental physical equations (specific

complements are provided when necessary). Methods

presented are of fully general use, which opens up ample

windows on topics of contemporary interest. These

include complex dynamical processes such as patterning, chaos control, mixing, and even the Earth's climate.

Numerical simulations are proposed as a means to obtain deeper understanding of the intricacies induced by

nonlinearities in our everyday environment, with hints on

adapted modelling strategies and their implementation.

Mills, T. (Ed.). (2015). Time series econometrics. Abbington, Oxon, UK: Routledge. In the memorable words of Ragnar Frisch, econometrics is ‘a unification of

the theoretical–quantitative and the empirical–quantitative approach to economic problems’. Beginning

to take shape in the 1930s and 1940s, econometrics is

now recognized as a vital subdiscipline supported by a vast—and still rapidly growing—body of literature.

Following the positive reception of The Rise of Econometrics (2013) (978-0-415-61678-2), Routledge

now announces a new collection from its Critical Concepts

in Economics series. With a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the assembled

materials in their historical and intellectual context, Time Series Econometrics is an essential work of reference.

This fully indexed collection will be particularly useful as an essential database allowing scattered and often

fugitive material to be easily located. It will also be

welcomed as a crucial tool permitting rapid access to less familiar—and sometimes overlooked—texts. For

researchers and students, as well as economic policy-makers, it is a vital one-stop research and pedagogic

resource.

Schiepek, G., Eckert, H., Aas, B., Wallot, S., & Wallot, A. (2015). Integrative psychotherapy: A feedback-driven dynamic systems approach. Gottingen, Germany: Hogrefe. This book introduces a

new, integrative systemic approach to psychotherapy and

counseling and shows how the principles of dynamic complex systems can guide everyday clinical work. Our

mental, interpersonal and biological (e.g. neuronal) systems are complex and nonlinear, and allow

spontaneous pattern formation and chaotic dynamics. Their self-regulating nature sometimes maneuvers the

systems into pathological states. However, the very same

principles can be utilized therapeutically to encourage change for the better. The feedback-driven nonlinear

dynamics approach described here basically attempts to facilitate positive self-organizing process, such as order

transitions, healthy patterns of behavior, and learning

processes. From the forward by David Pincus: In chapters 5 and 6 the authors explain the Synergetic Navigation

System (NSS) grounded in the broader science of self-organization. This approach brings together our best

practices in nonlinear science, experience sampling, and behavioral medicine, each applied to the process of

psychotherapy. Well beyond the German mental health

systems, the authors have created here a blueprint for modern mobile medicine that can serve as a model for

the world.

Till, F. (Ed., 2016). Stochastic Resonation, Paramagnetism and Emotional Contagion in Collective Behavior. New York; Nova Science. “Collective behavior” is can be defined as human individuals acting together in groups; these groups can be

as small as three people, or as large as millions of people.

Collective behavior is also concerned with animals forming swarms and flocks, neurons firing in synchrony, and

chemical and biochemical particles with on-board energy depots acting together as a whole. As such, collective

behavior refers to units (humans, animals, neurons, biochemical substances, etc.) interacting with each other

to form a whole. In physics, collective phenomena have

been studied for a long time for systems that are in thermodynamic equilibrium. Magnetism produced by the

alignment of elementary spins is a well-known example. In contrast, in this book, collective behavior refers to

systems composed of units that operate far from

thermodynamical equilibrium. It is about lifeforms and active biochemical substances. This book presents recent

developments in the research field of collective behavior. Various disciplines are addressed, ranging from economy,

leisure sciences, and psychology to neurosciences, physics and biology. This book is intended both for the

general reader interested in collective behavior and for

the quantitative researcher looking for an update in this rapidly developing field. This book has two parts. The first

part presents theoretical fundamentals and concepts. The second part provides chapters with mathematical

modeling and simulations. Although the individual

chapters of this book report from a variety of research disciplines, the chapters are interconnected with each

other and give rise to a general picture of the state-of-the-art research on collective behavior. Contents:

Understanding Online Group Purchasing Behavior

(Giuliana Isabella and Suzi Elen Ferreira Dias, University of Sao Paulo and Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas,

Brazil); Modeling Social Interactions in Game Play (Jason Gordon, Department of Psychology, University of

Connecticut, USA); Leisure Phenomenon as a Complex System: Exploring its Potential for a Dynamical Approach

(Gabriela Baranowski Pinto, Federal Agency for the

Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education, CAPES, Brazilian Government, Brazil); Stochastic Resonation,

Paramagnetism and Emotional Contagion in Collective Behaviours (Alan McDonnell, Emergent Dynamic

Technologies Ltd, Bristol, United Kingdom); Analysis of

Behavior Stability in a Multiagent System; (Florin Leon, Department of Computer Science and Engineering,

Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, Romania; Collective Behavior of Active Particles (Olga V.

Yushchenko, Nanolectronics Department, Sumy State University, Ukraine); Considerations on the SET Model of

Swarm Behavior in the Case of Very Large Swarms; (T. D.

Frank, Department of Psychology and Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, USA); Collective

Behavior in Adaptive Systems: Application to Prism Adaptation (T. D. Frank, Department of Psychology and

Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, USA);

The Lotka-Volterra-Haken Model for Group Buying,

Apples-to-Apples Group Play and the Competition and Attraction of Leisure Activities (T. D. Frank, Department

of Psychology and Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, USA); Index.